Johannesburg, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are being considered as possible venues to host the Champions Trophy this year, a senior International Cricket Council (ICC) official said on Monday.

The ICC executive board last month shifted the premier One-day tournament out of Pakistan with a possible boycott by five of the eight teams due to security concerns.

Sri Lanka is the back-up venue but Dave Richardson, ICC general manager for cricket, said some doubts had been raised as September-October, when the event is planned, would be the monsoon season in the island nation.

“Some doubts have been raised over Sri Lanka being a suitable venue more from a weather point of view,” Richardson told a news conference.

“What is decided is that the CT has to be held in one place with at least two venues and completed in 12 days time so that narrows down the choice of other possible options,” he said.

Richardson said the possible options were the South African capital and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

“I think these options would be in the frame when the venue is finalised in March-April,” he added.

The tournament was postponed from last year before it was shifted out of Pakistan due to security issues.

Pakistan cricket received a further blow on Friday with the cancellation of a tri-series in Dubai scheduled for late March due to the unavailability of the Sri Lankan team, a top official said.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Salim Altaf said that the event would be scrapped.

“We have been told by organisers that the tri-series has been cancelled because, I believe, the Sri Lankan team is unavailable,” said Altaf. The third team was to be Bangladesh.

Altaf said he did not know why Sri Lanka could not participate.

The event was part of a $nine-million deal with Dubai Sports City last year, which was to provide Pakistan with cricket at neutral venue after foreign teams refused to tour the country over security fears.

Pakistan did not play a single Test last year after Australia postponed a tour in March citing security risks. They rescheduled the tour in two visits — for One-dayers in 2009 and Tests in 2010.

But they refused again to tour Pakistan after Canberra refused permission over fear that players could be targeted because the Australian army is among international troops deployed in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The series will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from April 24 to May 7.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) also withdrew the eight-nation Champions trophy from Pakistan after three teams refused to tour.

The ICC will decide the new venue in April.

Pakistan cricket suffered another setback when India refused to send its team across the border following heightened tension in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan has admitted that part of the planning for the attacks, which killed 165 people, was done inside Pakistan.

Pakistan will play Australia in five one-day matches at neutral venues in the Gulf, the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has said. The first two ODIs will be played in Dubai, while the remaining three will be played in Abu Dhabi.

“We have decided to play the five-match one-day series against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from April 24 to May 7,” said Butt. “The teams will then return to Dubai for the Twenty20 international.”

Australia had cancelled their tour of Pakistan in the wake of the heightened violence in March 2008, and were expected to visit the country separately for the ODI and Test series this year. Venues in England, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai had been considered as alternatives in a discussion with Cricket Australia officials on the sidelines of an ICC executive board meeting late last month.

The PCB had turned down the offer to stage the matches at a neutral venue when CA initially expressed their reluctance to tour last year. Butt said there was a possibility of hosting the Test series against Australia at neutral venues as well. “If Australia do not play the Tests in Pakistan there is a possibility of playing the Test series in England,” he said.

Australia have not played in Pakistan since 1998. In 2002, due to security concerns, a three Test series between the two sides in Pakistan was shifted to Colombo and Sharjah.

With Australia refusing to tour Pakistan citing security concerns, the cricket-starved nation has been forced to shift their April-May five-match one-day series to a neutral venue.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt held talks with Cricket Australia officials in Melbourne and the decision was made there.

PCB sources said Butt was invited to hold talks with CA chief executive James Sutherland.

It was agreed that the one-day series and a Twenty20 game would be played from the last week of April.

“Basically it has been agreed in principle that Pakistan would host the series at neutral venues like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah,” one source said.

“So the series is on but not in Pakistan,” the source added.

He said the CA officials had made it clear to Butt that the security briefings they got from different sources made it impossible for the Australian team to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns.

Butt would release the details of the itinerary by next week once he returns home this week.

Australia has not toured Pakistan since 1998 and the two countries have not played a bilateral series since 2005. Former players and officials have lambasted the PCB for agreeing to play at neutral venues and see this is as one of the reason why the ICC eventually relocated the Champions Trophy from Pakistan.